At 93/5, it felt as though India A would be bowled out in a jiffy, but then in walked Shams Mulani, who bailed his team out with a gritty half-century on a day dominated by the India D bowlers at Anantapur’s Rural Development Trust Stadium A. Mulani was involved in two crucial partnerships that saved the day for India A. First, with Kumar Kushagra, he steadied the ship before Yash Dubey took a sharp reflex catch at gully to remove Kushagra. However, Mulani grew from strength to strength and formed the biggest partnership of the innings with fellow Mumbai player Tanush Kotian, who provided able support at the other end, also scoring a valiant half-century. At the close on day one, India A were 288/8, with Mulani still unconquered on 88.
Given the overcast conditions and the tinge of grass on the pitch, both skippers wanted to bowl first, but it was India D’s skipper, Shreyas Iyer, who got to make the call. The clouds passed early, though, and there was hardly any swing on offer, which meant early struggles for Harshit Rana and Vidhwath Kaverappa. The latter adjusted quickly and found the ideal length to bowl. He took his time, initially pushing the ball forward for swing movement, but as soon as he pulled it back and aimed to surprise the batters with bounce, things began to happen for him. He largely bowled a good length, targeting the fourth-stump channel, mixing it up with the occasional bouncer.
Kaverappa removed Mayank Agarwal with a beauty that he could only edge behind. His height allowed him to extract extra bounce from the surface, which also accounted for Pratham Singh, who looked uncomfortable against short-pitched deliveries. While Kaverappa excelled in his first spell, Harshit struggled to find his rhythm and length.
Riyan Parag came in and was proactive from the start. A lofted shot over long-off for six against Kaverappa announced his arrival in style. The Assam-based cricketer played his shots and put the pressure back on India D. He was particularly severe against Arshdeep Singh. In the 17th over, he hit his fourth boundary off him, but the pacer had the last laugh, getting Parag caught in the slips. Tilak Varma fell in the next over, and Harshit was brought back to remove Shashwat Rawat soon after.
Harshit bowled from the Pavilion End, an end where pacers had taken 12 wickets in the previous game. The right-arm pacer looked more probing, pitching it further up and making the batters play.
Kushagra and Mulani steadied the ship against Iyer’s spurt of bowling changes after lunch. Iyer persisted with Arshdeep, and the left-arm pacer eventually claimed Kushagra’s wicket, to a similar drive to the one Parag had played earlier.
This united the Mumbaikars, Mulani and Kotian, at the crease. True to their local style, they anchored themselves firmly and remained unshakable for the rest of the second session.
The pitch eased out for batting, and the duo took advantage of the spinners, who never seemed settled against their footwork, while also calmly seeing off the pacers. Arshdeep kept running in and eventually tired, conceding a few more boundaries. Despite going for runs, Saurabh Kumar kept pitching it up and was finally rewarded with Kotian’s wicket, breaking the 91-run partnership.
Although Kotian was dismissed playing a rash shot, Mulani held up one end firmly. The left-handed batter never looked uncomfortable at the crease. His back-foot play against the pacers was top-notch, as was his footwork against the spinners. The hallmark of his innings was his judgement – knowing which balls to leave and which to attack. He looked well organised throughout the day.
Returning to first-class cricket after a long break, it was a poor day for Sanju Samson behind the stumps. He dropped one catch and didn’t attempt another chance created by Arshdeep in the 78th over.
Brief Scores: India A 288/8 (Shams Mulani 88*, Tanush Kotian 53; Vidhwath Kaverappa 2/30) vs India D